Felicity Smoak: My Life As A Pirate
by 1Strangeness-Charm1
Summary: Felicity Smoak is on the run for her life. Alone and scared, she turns to the help of strangers, her only escape; the open sea and the life of a pirate.
1. Preface

Title: Felicity Smoak: My Life As A Pirate

Category: Arrow

Genre: Romance

Ship: Felicity/Oliver

Chapter Rating: pg-13

Overall Rating: mature

Chapter Word Count: 266

Part One Summary: (au) Felicity Smoak is the run for her life. Alone and scared, she turns to the help of strangers, her only escape; the open sea and the life of a pirate.

 **-Preface-**

I chose to tell my story now, while there is still breath in my lungs and strength left for me to speak. I find that by reliving my adventures, I can lessen the pain of his passing. I want to speak to you of a time in my life when all I really knew was the smell of the salt in the sea air, the ever present burning of the sun's light on the back of my neck. I lived a life of freedom unlike any other. But this freedom, like everything else in life, came with a price. To renounce one's identity is never an easy thing, but I think that maybe, just this once, the price I paid was worth it in the end.

My story is one that you will find hard to believe, mine and Caitlin's and my husband's. I truly hope that once I am done, the decisions I made are easier I understand. If it seems incredulous to you, make no mistake, I speak no lies.

I was told once that love is a many splendid thing. At a time when I believed such a thing to be forever out of my reach, I truly did not believe them. I understood only the betrayal of those who were supposed to be family and the constant distrust of those around me. A piratical life is a dangerous one for all, women especially.

But I met him. And I would go through it all again, if it meant I could meet him.

Oliver Queen.

Captain Jonas Dearden.

My husband.

This is for you.


	2. Chapter 1

Title: Felicity Smoak: My Life As A Pirate

Category: Arrow

Genre: Romance

Ship: Felicity/Oliver

Chapter Rating: pg-13

Overall Rating: mature

Chapter Word Count: 1,182

Part One Summary: (au) Felicity Smoak is on the run for her life. Alone and scared, she turns to the help of strangers, her only escape; the open sea and the life of a pirate.

* * *

 **-1-**

Impotence. Believe me when I tell you that I'd never felt such rage as to equal that which I felt at my inability to influence my own destiny.

My life changed irrevocably one grey autumn morning as I set sail aboard the _Starling's Flight,_ headed for a destination kept secret to me by both the crew and my brother alike. The death of my father had left Roy largely in command of the family's vast fortune, with a comparably small amount — although still quite large by monetary standards — allotted as my dowery, and left him my appointed guardian.

 _It was father's last will_ , he promised. _His dying wish._

Being a girl and only of seventeen years I had not been allowed to attend the reading of my father's last testament — an occurrence that would forever anger me. _Young women are not meant for such things_ , I'd been told, as if the nature of my sex made me incapable of handling such a thing. I loved my father, yes, and his passing greatly affected me. But I was neither wholly innocent nor of a delicate constitution. My mother — whom had passed but a year before my father — had never allowed such weakness to be instilled in me. She had championed me like I would later learn only two others would do.

My brother Roy was another matter entirely. In him lived the weakness and penchant for succumbing to the will of others, for ducking his head and being content merely watch as others did as they pleased that my mother had so hated. I had no doubt my family's fortune would be lost quickly in his incapable hands. He would not let me assist him ( _what would the people think?_ ). Our educations had been separate, our interactions incredibly limited. I had no doubt that he believed me to be stupid. What a funny coincidence, that he of all people should think me stupid.

Weak as Roy was, this did not prevent him from being an accomplished liar, and I resigned myself to never know the content of my father's will. My brother could simply want to be rid of me, as most recently inherited bachelors with sisters were prompt to do. I would simply be a nuisance to him as long as I remained in what was now his house. Or perhaps it really had been in father's will that I be moved from our home. I wondered if my mother could see me now. A restless spirit, enraged by the injustice that was surely being done against me. But this was not a matter of weakness on my part. No dear mother. Even alive, I had no more influence over my or anyone else's future than that dead do.

If she was there as the ship departed, I had no knowledge of it. The dark clouds were heavy with rain, the air pregnant with a coming storm that the sailors hoped we put behind us long before it started. I was far from suicidal, but in that moment I could not help but think how little I would care if the ship were to be caught in the storm. Misery — a feeling I had seemly forgotten — enveloped me like the ocean waves.

I stood on the deck, surely in the way of the busy sea-folk who did their best to avoid bumping into me as they went about their many tasks. I remembered the many books I had read on voyage, of author's describing travel on the open sea and the manner in which the world opened up before them. Of how they looked as far as they could, their eyes straining to separate the mix of water and clear blue sky, and thought the world endless.

The clouded sky surrounded me like a cage. I imagined I could see perfectly where the world would end, where the sea would fall in a massive waterfall over the edge and into oblivion. I was deaf to the cries of the captain and the crew. They had either been made aware of my situation — my father's death had been much talked about, and I had no doubt the sailor's he had once employed had received the news — and instructed not to bother me, or merely sensed that I simply could not bear to be bothered. They avoided like I carried the plague.

The ship dipped and rose, the choppy waters below exacerbating the motion of the ship. Being my first time on my ship, I had yet to get my sea legs. I turned and stumbled, only to be caught by Roy.

"You must be careful Felicity, it will not do to have you stumbling overboard." His tone was light, but there was an undercurrent of hostility in it. It would be impossible to mistake his words as genuine concern. "Come now, you must not bother sailors by getting in the way."

He placed his arm just below my elbow, smiling and taking great care to be gentle. It did not fool me. I knew it was but a show to anyone who might be watching, so that they may think he was but a concerned older brother seeing to his sister's well being.

I knew right then that I could not have been more right in my assessment of Roy. Weak of character, but a good liar and showman. What a strange paradox.

I was escorted below decks, to a small but comfortable chamber where a maid — whose name was long gone from my memory — waited. She was a small and deceivingly frail looking thing, but with hands that had seen years of labor and were sure and steady. No sooner had Roy shut the door behind him that she was fussing over me, clicking her tongue at the state I was in — the ride from our home to the port had been a long and weary one. Once I was free of my dress and placed in a robe she was sure would keep me warm, she fetched some soup for me. The smell and taste were both bland, but the broth was warm and filled my belly.

"You've a stronger stomach than most," she said, reaching around me to fluff the pillow on the bunk. "Is this your first time traveling by sea miss?"

I nodded, my mouth full with another spoonful. The maid smiled kindly. "Perhaps you are one of the lucky few to escape the sickness of the sea. I was gravely ill with it my first time aboard a ship. I thought I would die." I handed her the empty bowl with a muttered thanks and lay back, hoping that she was right and I would not become ill. I'd heard of the sickness she spoke of, and wished desperately I would not succumb to it. I closed my eyes, imagining that the now gentler motion of the boat was the swaying motion of a mother rocking her newborn babe to sleep.

There was nothing for me to do aboard the _Starling's Flight_ , and so I slept.

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 **A/N: Thank you for reading. Please leave a review, they feed the muse! :)**


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